Preface and
Acknowledgments
As a religion writer for the Los Angeles Times newspaper for eighteen years, I saw a plethora of religious organizations firsthand. Their gurus and teachers have usually been anxious — although not always — to explain their group's spiritual underpinnings.
Whenever I write about these groups, I am often bombarded by letters and phone calls from people who want more behind-the-scenes information. For the most part, these people fall into two groups: those who are curious or searching, and those who are concerned for family members or friends "caught up" in the mystique of some alternate spiritual lifestyle.
In the 1970s — following the "flower children" era of the 1960s — numerous tightly knit religious groups formed around autocratic, self-styled gurus who demanded intense loyalty and devotion. But in the 1980s and 1990s, the style is changing. Many are embracing a more open, yet elusive, movement that is abroad in our land. Collectively, this ideology is known as the New Age.
This introspective movement, which embraces "Higher Consciousness" as the supreme quest of humankind, is shaking loose an avalanche of ideas that question our traditional Western philosophies and our long-held Judeo-Christian ethos. Meanwhile, the media vacillate between scrutinizing and smirking at such New Age tangents as fire walking and channeling off-planet entities.
Some Jewish and Christian groups have rigorously condemned New Age thinking; others have selectively adopted parts of its meditative rituals and teachings. But most onlookers are simply confused by the diffuse tenets of this
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recycled Eastern worldview. They wonder, for example: Where does yoga exercise end and self-worship begin? Where does an appreciation of New Age music merge with acceptance of a concept of cyclical history spiraling in endless repetition?
I wanted to gather well-researched information and insights about these and many other questions surrounding the New Age. So I requested — and was generously granted — an eight-month leave of absence from my beat at the Los Angeles Times to write this book. As a result, I hope you, the reader, will come along as we explore the many strands of this intriguing and often puzzling movement that have drawn — and continue to draw — millions into the web of the New Age.
Part I begins with an overview of the prevalence and premises of the New Age movement, followed by a scrutiny of the human mind and how New Age thought utilizes nonverbal thinking.
Part II presents a roster of major players, groups, and events — and their contributions — within the New Age arena.
In Part III, we consider how New Age theories, therapies, and activities are working their way into America's economic, corporate, cultural, social, academic, political, and religious life.
Part IV aims to give tools for discerning and evaluating the New Age. (For your convenience, there is a short glossary of New Age terms at the end of the book.)
And in Part V, the final section, I present the Judeo-Christian alternative and the theistic worldview.
* * *
I wish to express deep gratitude to Word Publishing for the support and help the staff gave me during the writing and publication of the first editions of this book and to Zondervan Publishing House for this revised edition.
Editor par excellence Judith Markham at Blue Water Ink in Grand Rapids, Michigan, smoothed out the rough spots, caught spelling errors, polished the style, and sharpened clarity at key points. Working with Judith on several projects has been a joy and an inspiration!
And the faithful teamwork of my partner and wife, Marjorie
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Lee Chandler, made all the difference in meeting the manuscript deadline. This project would never have succeeded without her diligent research at libraries, her telephone interviews seeking and verifying information, and her tireless expediting of a host of business and social needs during my writing "hibernation" time. I also want to thank her for reading the draft version and making many valuable suggestions and contributions to improve and strengthen the book.
Grateful acknowledgment is expressed to all who read selected portions of the manuscript as it was in progress and made helpful comments. Thanks also to those who provided insights about the New Age movement, shared articles, materials, and books — even their private libraries — and granted me interviews, sometimes with minimal advance notice. And I thank my mother, Mary Beth Chandler, for being understanding when I wasn't always available at times that she hoped to spend with her son.
Hopefully, the sum total is a book that will bring significant new understanding about one of the most important social and religious phenomena of our time
Russell Chandler
November 1992
